Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-07-02
a Wondrous story.

The Boston Transcript says: "The coast
line OF British Columbia extends for nearly
six hundred miles between Alaska on the
north and Washington Territory on the
south. At the northern point of this line
is Fort Simpson, an old post of the Hudson
Bay Company. To this fort young Eng
lishman went, thirty years ago, with the
apparently chimerical purpose of Christian
izing the savage tribes whose huts clus-
tered about the neighborhood. He learned
their language, took up his abode among
them, and as the result of his teaching and
influence there sprang up near by a new
Indian village which has become the most
important settlement upon that entire
coast.
The visitor to-day finds there streets of
commodious and weil-bUilt houses, saw
mill and salmon cannery, schoo,-house.
town hall, and, dominating them all,
Gothic church. seating ,200-all these the
result of the toll of the Tsimshcan Indians.
The very name of this town, Metlakathla.
has become household word among many
of the churches of England and Scotland as
one of the most conspicuous triumphs of
Christian missions. Its influence, more
over, has affected all the tribes for hundreds
of miles up and down the coast. The Eng
lish missionary, remaining q layman, be-
came magistrate for wide territory-gov-
erned wisely, kept liquor away from the
tribes, and fostered remuneratiye industries
among them.
a great reverse, however. has fallen
upon this community. The Province of
British Columbia, in order to secure he Ut
most advantage from the sale of lands
on the line of the proposed Canadian Pa
cific Railroad, has decided that the Indians
have no rights in the land. At one blow
the results of the long years OF seif-sacrifice
and toll of the Metlakathla Indians have
been doomed. Their title to houses, gar
, dens, church, town hall, industrial plant
everything-is undermined. Looking over
to the forests clad hills of Alaska, which
are in sight from their town, il occurred to
them that the United States might afford
! them a justice which was ruthlessly de-
MED them in the land of their forefathers
Their missionary recently came on to
| Washington, and having received authori-
! tative assurance that his Indians might
have privileges of settlement and owner
/ ship in Alaska identical to those granted TO
white.men, he proposes that he and they
shall become Americans. Their village is
! TO be dismantled, their homes torn down,
| their titled gardens deserted, and once
more they are to begin, in wilderness
sixty miles away. at Port Chester, the la
| boriouS task of building new town. The
/
posed towards the Tsimsheans, welcome
| their proposed advent. and we may be
| thankful that so vigorous and eleyating an
| influence is to reach the thirty thousand
Indians of our vast Northwest domain.
The Englishman whose conservation and
rare personal qualities have borne such
| fruit is William Duncan"
| -
HEsPERIAN CoLLEGE LocATIoS.-At a
meeting of the Trustees of Hesperian Col
lege, at Woodland, last Saturday, J. d.
Lawson stated that he was authorized to
otter the Trustees $4,000 for the old col
lege property, and to donate to them one
block of the Gibson tract for the location
of the new college, the site to be selected
by the Trustees. By this proposition the
Trustees were to receive one half the
money when the deed was made and the
other half on January LIST. the Trustees to
use the college till that time. The block
donated contains about four acres. It is
the understanding that there will be 6
street on all sides of the college. The Offer
was accepted.